Russell Nelson from Leicester Square TV sends this in: LSQTV sat down for an intimate one on one chat with the charming and phenomenally talented John Rhys-Davies last weekend whilst he was meeting UK fans at Collectormania London.

He talks about not only the magic of Tolkien and his experience of making the films, but also about whether or not he’d be interested in returning to the franchise for the upcoming Hobbit films. Read the rest of this entry »

A note from Vivienne Wilkes, one of the many organizers of the Middle-earth Weekend, with details of next year’s event. This will be held as usual at:

Sarehole Mill in Birmingham, England
and will be open from 11.00am until 5.00pm on
Saturday and Sunday
15th and 16th May 2010.

Vivienne is not taking an active role in the organization this year since she is instead following in the footsteps of Rosie Cotton. Rosie’s husband Sam Gamgee as, you will recall, became Mayor of Michael Delving in the years following the Hobbits’ adventures in ‘The Lord of the Rings’. By strange coincidence Viv is married to this year’s Lord Mayor of Birmingham. Of course a major difference is Michael Wilkes will be Lord Mayor for one year only whereas Sam was Mayor for many, many years. Read the rest of this entry »

News is on the Associated Press wire today that the founder of the pop-culture showcase, the San Diego Comic-Con, Sheldon Dorf, has died at age 76. A spokesperson for Dorf’s family, friend Greg Koudoulian, says he died at a San Diego hospital as a result of kidney failure and problems caused by diabetes. At the official Comic-Con Website there is a message from the Board of Directors, Staff and volunteers of the Comic-Con organization as they “mourn the passing of our dear friend Shel”. Read the rest of this entry »

Nice little piece on one the Elf Fantasy Fair in Utrecht, only this time from the viewpoint of one of the stars who was there to sign his autograph for the fans. Luckily he had time to look around and describe the fair too! [More]

Dr Dimitra Fimi, Associate Lecturer: University of Wales Institute, Cardiff writes: Festival in the Shire: A celebration of all things Tolkien inspired! Announcing the biggest and most exciting event for Tolkien enthusiasts in 2010: Festival in the Shire is a conference, exhibition and fair celebrating themes inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien, which will be held in mid-Wales, in Machynlleth’s historic Y Plas house and grounds between 13 and 15 August 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

Say whatever you wish about James Cameron or his movies (”Terminator 2,” “Aliens,” “Titanic” “The Abyss”) but he doesn’t play things safe. He showcased some 3-D footage of the upcoming “Avatar” (December 18) at this summer’s Comic-Con and then in one of the convention’s all-time highlights, took the stage with Peter Jackson to talk about technology, film and the future. Our friends at Weta have been heavily involved and will share some credit or blame for the success or failure of his latest, risky $230 million film. Dana Goodyear at The New Yorker has an excellent profile of the film director with a dose of Weta thrown in. Read it here

TA Widman sends this in: I don’t know if anybody over at TORN knows about this yet, but another fan film is being produced to be premiered at Ring*Con 2009 and then streamed online, like Hunt for Gollum. “Born of Hope” is set before the War of the Ring, focusing on the story of Arathorn and Gilraen as well as the birth and childhood of Aragorn. It is a 60 minute film, being produced in the UK. On their site, they’ve posted a teaser trailer, and many stills. www.bornofhope.com

Trying to make Comic-Con a bit more Tolkien-centric, and to have a little extra fun and the world’s biggest celebration of pop-culture, we (TheOneRing.net) brought in the crowds at Comic Con in San Diego for a fun competition. With no space at the convention to call our own, we went to Weta for an assist and they provided a perfect setting to hold a “Voice of Gollum,” contest.

A collection of fun-loving convention attendees and some awesome Gollum impersonators stepped in front of the Slaveboy Films’ cameras and impressed TORn, Weta and everybody stopping to look on. We asked Weta to choose the best entries, and the guys at Slaveboy Films have put together a fantastic video of the Top Ten.

Weta has also agreed to donate 20 Weta Dollars (worth US$20 dollars) to each of the Top Ten entries. Now it’s your turn. Weta are going to assist TORn with the voting. Out of these 10 masterful impersonators, only one can be said to possess the true voice of Gollum and therefore be allowed to take home a swag-bag of extra goodies; a TORn T-shirt, a Weta T-shirt, 30 more Weta Dollars, a Weta keyring and a Lord of the Rings Location Guide book. Who is it going to be? Vote Today!

DragonCon, one of the best fantasy and science fiction events in the world, concluded Monday in Atlanta, Georgia and while concluded, it will not be forgotten.

The convention, that gathers fans from the far reaches of the globe, is likely the last one before filming begins on Guillermo del Toro’s “The Hobbit,” and discussion and anticipation for the forthcoming pair of films adapting J.R.R. Tolkien’s book was a definite part of the landscape of the annual convention. Read the rest of this entry »

ATLANTA – Enthusiasm is building for the two-movie adaptation of “The Hobbit” and if you don’t mind me saying, it can be felt in the air and smelt in the water. One of the first attractions of the day (after Spock and Kirk of course) was TORn’s own trio of staffers Deej, Greendragon ad MrCere, dishing about all the recent developments on “The Hobbit.”

Using quotes from TORn’s own interviews, TORn’s message boards (Guillermo del Toro) and national media, the trio tried to get everybody up to date on the soon-to-be greenlit (we hope/think) film. Sending along greetings was Guillermo del Toro via video and three members of the Weta team that will be working on the film. Read the rest of this entry »